Snow filled London, Romania and the Alps..

The start of 2013 had started in fine form and the next few months followed in suit.

We had a fair bit of snow in London which made for some more snowman making at our friend’s pub, the Trafalgar Arms, which was the in the middle of our houses.  This pub became our home for the next couple of months over winter for a solid ‘Sunday Sesh’, we even had a couch that was the specifically saved for us.

A group of us celebrated Australia Day in fine form at the Church in Clapham (with many other Australians) and the same group of us celebrated the Kiwi, Waitangi Day, the following weekend.

I was lucky enough to have a good mate who had the same taste in music as me and enjoyed seeing the artists live more than I did.  Result?  Going to many many gigs all around London!!  Also, eating our way around before the gigs – ideal!  Some of the gigs I went to at the start of 2013 included:  Daughter/Lay Low, Angus Stone, AlunaGeorge, James Blake, The Rubens, Rhye (candlelit in a Church!), Brolin (massive Turkish feed beforehand!), The Lumineers, Jessie Ware and Daughter (which also included an amazing dinner at Duck and Waffle beforehand!!).

I had also heard about Sofar Sounds so we went along.  If you don’t know what Sofar Sounds is, the below is an extract from their website – I recommend going if it is ever in your city:

“Sofar Sounds curates secret, intimate gigs in living rooms around the world. We spotlight amazing emerging artists, introducing them to new and passionate fans through a unique and magical concert experience.”

I didn’t get to travel as much as I had been but I did still manage to get away to Romania for a weekend.

I flew into Bucharest and headed straight for the town of Brasov.  It was beautiful.  I did a day trip to visit Bran Castle which is otherwise known as ‘Dracula’s Castle’ (Dracula never even stepped foot here though!), Rasnov Fortress and my favourite castle by far, Peles Castle, in the Sinaia region.  It was beautiful!  The interior of this castle was so grand and each room was different.  You could not take pictures inside but this meant I was able to truly take it what I was walking through – stunning.

I caught the train back to Bucharest where I explored for the afternoon and ate some yummy food before jumping on my late evening flight back to London.  Such a great way to spend a weekend.

March also meant two of my best mate’s time had run out.  Their visas were up so had to return to New Zealand.  I spent as much time as I could with them and we had a great send off.  Definitely missed them in London, especially seeming they only lived a couple of streets away from me.

As much it was sad times I also had some more super-fun travel planned.  I had a short weekend away in the French Alps with my mates again in Morzine.  It was a weekend full of snowboarding and some delirious food, of course!  Two full days of boarding was such good fun and it was great to see my mates again.

As was my fashion, I had another trip away over my birthday which conveniently coincided with Easter.  Next up was Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Russia for three weeks!!  Bring on the snow!